About this Book

The shattering of the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy following the rigged presidential elections of June 2009 and the wave of protests that it provoked – dubbed the ‘Green Movement’ – triggered a process of radicalisation of the Iranian political regime. This radicalisation can be seen in the overall political project of total domination implemented in the 2010s, which no longer sought to win the support of an exasperated population, but to ‘contain’ it long enough to be able to systematically alienate the next generations, in the hope that these would be both numerous and devoted to the theocratic state.

This new domestic policy also extends to the regional and international level, through the presence of Iranian or pro-Iranian military forces in neighbouring countries – a presence that has already triggered the escalation of extreme tensions in the region, thereby aggravating the antagonistic Iranian–American relationship.

This power struggle between Iran and the United States risks dragging the Islamic Republic into a new conflict, not long after commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Iraq–Iran war (22 September 1980). This book was born out of the need to clarify the complex issue of the radicalisation of the Islamic Republic. To this end, the author examines the new domestic policy, shedding light on both the watershed of 2009 and the hegemonic regional ambition of the theocratic regime.